As I stated in one of my first articles, as a data builder you are doing providing two critical things to your client. First and foremost, you are providing the data model that your client is going to use in the field. This is the most obvious thing you are providing and many young data builders see this as the only thing that you are providing. However, in our opinion, you are also providing something just as important: a second set of eyes. For my article this month, I would like to focus in on this second service and its critical role in data building.

So what does a 'second set of eyes' mean? Well, in a perfect world engineers would provide a perfect, error free design. All elevations would be correct. The profile would be correct. The storm and sewer elevations and slopes would be correct. Water would never flow uphill. Everything would be not only correct, but the design itself would be sound. Unfortunately, we do not live in a perfect world. I have never worked on a data project that did not have at least one mistake. You must understand that it is part of your responsibility as a data builder to be a second set of eyes; to help catch these mistakes before they get into the field. You can not just blindly recreate the project and shoot it out the door. You need to ensure that the design itself is sound before a single cubic yard of dirt is moved onsite.

While working as an engineer in years past, I came up with a saying: All engineers make mistakes, but the good ones catch them. Mistakes are a part of any design. The entire engineering design process is designed to help eliminate those mistakes. But, as is usually the case, at the last minute the architect makes drastic changes to the site and the engineer has to drastically change their design at the last minute. Regardless of what caused them to be in there, unfortunately mistakes are just a part of final plan sets. This is by no means a burn against engineers. Having been there myself, I can tell you that no matter how many times you double check your work as an engineer, those pesky typos always seem to get past you. Which brings us to what I see as the two types of mistakes that data builders have to deal with: typos and design errors.

Typos are fun to have in your design. You are moving down a run of curb with elevations like so: 672.35, 672.45, 627.85, and 672.95. When you have one thousand spot elevations to put into your model, you would be surprised how easily that mistake can slip past you. But don't worry, when you are looking at your model in 3D, that forty-five foot hole in the ground will show up just fine. Typos are usually an isolated mistake that is by far the most common I see. I hate to even call them mistakes really because they contained good information to start with, it just got lost in the transmission. As a data builder, it is your job to correct obvious mistakes, almost universally on your own. While the example I used above is extreme and easy to catch, it takes a lot of practice and experience to catch a single spot elevation out of a thousand where the engineer accidently labeled has a flow line elevation at top back of curb. Regardless, catching and correcting these very minor, and very common, design typos is a role that every data builder has to play by while building every project they come across. A little bit of judgment is necessary though. Is this a single typo, or did the engineer make the same typo over 900 feet of roadway? Even with typos, there are times where is both appropriate and necessary to involve both your client and the design engineer in correcting the mistake.

The second type of mistake is the design mistake. Unfortunately, there are times where a portion of the engineers design is fundamentally flawed. In other words, there are no typos or errors in the presentation of the design, the design itself is the problem. This could be a small portion of the greater design, or it could be the entire design. For example, the engineer has a 12% cross slope going across that handicap parking space. Or has a storm pipe flowing backwards by design. Or has a ten foot vertical difference at the intersection of two plan and profile roads. In a perfect world, the governing and review agency (City, County, State, ect.) would catch these. But unfortunately, sometimes these mistakes get into a final set of plans. Again, this is not a burn against engineers. This is just a reality that data builders have to work with.

So, what do you, the data builder, do when the project you are trying to recreate has fundamentally flawed elements? Do you take it upon yourself to design it? Do you go ahead and include it in your work as it is designed? While each situation is unique, my standard operation procedure is to contact the client first, engineer second. One of the first things I wanted to point out with these articles is that it is your job to recreate the engineers design, not design the site yourself. While you are expected to make minor changes (correct typos) on your own, it is possible to go too far over that line. Let your client decide where that line is. Make your request to the client official and presentable. Realize that whatever you put into that email is going to end up in the design engineers hands; so try to avoid the wording 'the engineer is stupid' in your request. More times than not, the engineer will see the design mistake and give out a correction - many times through a simple email. The point is, it is neither your job nor responsibility to correct fundamental design errors on your own. This is a team effort, so make sure you involve the other players.

In the end, dealing with design typos or errors is a daily experience for all data builders. Ensuring that these mistakes do not blindly make it into your design is part of being a good data builder. Learning to catch even the smallest typo is one of the traits a great data builder has. But please remember that in no way is it you against the engineer. It takes being an engineer to understand how those mistakes, even fundamental design ones, get into a final set of plans. Regardless, realize we are all on the same team, working toward the same goal. Mistakes are a part of every profession. It is your job to catch them, correct them, and keep your own work clean from them.